The NCAA women's basketball tournament has been entertaining so far, and a big reason why has been the play of Caitlin Clark and the Iowa women's basketball team. Clark has truly changed the game of basketball with her talent, and exposure for women's hoops is at an all-time high. The Hawkeyes cruised through their first two tournament games last weekend, and on Saturday, they took on Colorado women's basketball in the Sweet 16. It ended up being a great game for Clark and Iowa, but before we get into it, let's take a look at what has gone down in the tournament, and the regular season, leading up to this game.
March is one of the best times to be a sports fan because of the NCAA Tournament, and this season, the women's tournament is getting more viewers than usual. There are a lot of talented players around the country, and it has made for some exciting games. Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark is the face of women's college basketball, and she has been outstanding all season long and in the tournament.
Clark led Iowa to a 26-4 regular season record and a 15-3 mark in Big Ten conference play. The Hawkeyes did not win the regular season championship as Ohio State was able to finish one game above them in the standings. However, Iowa didn't stumble in the Big Ten Tournament and they went all the way to get the conference title there. It took overtime against a scrappy Nebraska team, but the Hawkeyes got it done, and they earned a one seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA Tournament has been exciting to watch so far. There was only one upset in the first round as 11 seed MTSU found a way to get into the round of 32, but other than that, it was all chalk. Still, there were some exciting games, and the best of the best took care of business.
In the round of 32, some more underdogs were able to get wins, but the big dogs like Iowa, Stanford, LSU, South Carolina, USC, and more are still dancing. It's going to make for a very exciting Elite 8, but there are still more games to go in the Sweet 16. Things just got started on Friday, and there are a couple more games that will continue into the night. Things have been exciting so far, but the Elite 8 and on is going to be must watch basketball.
Iowa women's basketball has cruised to the Elite 8
Things have been pretty easy for Iowa so far in the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes played 16 seed Holy Cross in their first game of the big dance, and it actually didn't end up being as big of a blowout as most people thought. The Crusaders actually played Iowa pretty tough in the first quarter, but the Hawkeyes started to pull away in the second half and took a big lead into the break. Still, the score was only 23-21 after the first quarter and Iowa was favored to win the game by 38.5 points.
Iowa women's basketball pulled away from the Crusaders and went on to win their first game of the tournament 91-65. Caitlin Clark had 27 points and was the leading scorer of the game, and the Hawkeyes advanced to the round of 32 to take on #8 seed West Virginia.
West Virginia gave Iowa a pretty good fight. Caitlin Clark had a huge game as she dropped 32 points, but the Mountaineers played extremely well and almost pulled off the upset.
The game was close throughout the first half and it was tied with under three minutes to go in the game. The Hawkeyes prevailed, however, and won 64-54. They closed the game on a 12-2 run to set up their date with five seed Colorado women's basketball in the Sweet 16.
Iowa takes down Colorado to advance to Elite 8
Caitlin Clark was once again sensational on Saturday, leading her team to an easy victory over the Buffaloes. Colorado didn't hang on for long as the Hawkeyes were able to open up a double digit lead early in the second quarter, and they never looked back. Iowa ended up winning the game 89-68.
Clark was phenomenal in this game as she finished 13-22 on the day for 29 points, 15 assists and six rebounds. Clark was doing it all, and she was once again the leading scorer in the game.
One thing that we usually see from Clark is elite three point shooting, and that was the one part of her game that was slightly off on Saturday. It wasn't terrible as she finished 3-11 from deep, but we have certainly seen her shoot much better from long range.
All in all, Clark played another great game and she is one step closer to taking her team back to the Final Four. However, the road gets tougher in the Elite 8 as the Hawkeyes will take on three seed LSU in a rematch of last year's national championship. That one is going to be good.
LSU and Iowa will battle it out in the Elite 8
Last season, the national title game was decided by a battle between Iowa women's basketball and LSU women's basketball. The Tigers ended up besting the Hawkeyes, and Caitlin Clark and her squad will have a chance to get revenge as the two will have a rematch in the Elite 8 on Monday. That game is going to be must-watch television. LSU is loaded with talent, but overall on the season, Iowa has had the better year. Still, this one is essentially a toss-up. It could go either way. Iowa is currently favored by 1.5 points.
So far in this year's tournament, LSU has taken down 14 seed Rice, 11 seed MTSU and two seed UCLA. Rice gave the Tigers a pretty good fight and the game against UCLA was a back and forth slugfest. The Tigers have found ways to win, and they are now one win away from getting back to the Final Four.
The ultimate goal for LSU is to win another national title, and they are halfway there in the NCAA Tournament. Clark and the Hawkeyes are hungry for revenge, however, and the only thing that Clark doesn't have on her resume is a national title. She is going to come out hungry as she is on a mission to get a ring.
This game is appointment TV, and it's going to be a lot of fun. We'll see if Clark can power Iowa to another Final Four, or if Angel Reese and the Tigers can crush their hopes yet again.
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